Soap Flakes, Austerity and Frugality

Some things around the house, once used, remain in place until the next deep cleaning — sometimes for a few weeks, sometimes for months. This morning, while taking a shower, I noticed a few soap slivers in the bathroom, and my mind drifted back to childhood.

When we were young, having a separate soap for each person wasn’t a luxury we had, and everyone used the same soap. Back then, the concept of “unhygienic” wasn’t something we thought about, and it never seemed like a big deal.

As the soap would wear down after repeated use, instead of throwing it away, it would be merged with a new bar of soap. With a little rubbing, the soap flake would stick to the new soap and, after one or two showers, would completely blend into it.

Many things were used in such a way that they were thrown away only when absolutely nothing remained useful.

Similarly, the month’s groceries would be bought from the local shop; “home delivery”, “10-minute delivery” wasn’t even a concept back then.

All groceries were packed in old newspaper, tied with thread. Edible oil and other liquids would be carried in containers brought from home.

Once back home, the groceries would be sorted into jars and containers. The newspapers were carefully stacked and stored for future use, and the threads would also be kept properly. Eventually, the old papers would be sold to the scrap dealer, and the threads would be used for things like making garlands or other household needs.

Nowadays, we see some of these habits in the form of “Austerity measures” at large companies. There’s a certain level of restriction on taking too many photo copies or printouts, and papers are reused on both sides, among other things.

It won’t be frugality as such. I feel that austerity and frugality are two different things.

Frugality is something ingrained from childhood, as part of one’s upbringing, while austerity is forced, an imposed form of frugality.

When a household, company, or country faces excessive financial strain, the resulting frugality is what we call austerity. True frugality is the kind that ensures such a situation of austerity never arises in the first place.

Soap flakes, indeed, have a lot to say.